Content Marketing event tomorrow: Sneak peak with Outbrain's Ant Hearne

Anthony Hearne is Outbrain's regional director, Southeast Asia and India.

Where should marketers place their focus and why? Social media, websites or email blasts?

I think their first focus should be content. Build content that they will love, engage with and share. Content fuels engagement across search, social, mobile, email etc. I think this is where marketers need to focus.

With that answer in mind how do marketers use this method to find new audiences interested in their content?

The obvious examples of brands really pushing the boundaries in content marketing are people like Redbull, Coke, GE, and Intel. Some local examples of best practice in Asia include the Economic Development Board from Singapore with their Singapore Sessions content. We have some great examples coming out of India like Madura Fashion's site www.thelabel.com.

What has been your toughest lesson in this industry?

Just how ingrained agency and marketing people are in the ways they have done things. There is countless data supporting the business case of content marketing over advertising in the digital space but there are still so many people we meet every week that are only just starting to think about this.

Top 5 tips on Content 101?

1. Content is not an ad – let go of that skill but add a new one.
2. Think like a publisher – build an audience first then try and sell.
3. Act like an editor - know your audience and get the content out there.
4. Invest carefully but quickly - you can make small bets and then iterate based on the results.
5. Don’t abuse user trust.

CONTENT MARKETING ASIA April 8, 2014 | Singapore Issues and tools for deploying the power of content